The dungeon behind that door (P.1) – Chapter 5

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I didn't know when Aoi had entered the door that I've been wanting to warn her about. That's why, with one breath, I rushed towards the weapon room where I keep different weapons and armor, and grabbed the loaded glock that I kept in case of emergencies.

I didn't have time to wear armor, which is why I rushed back towards the door as fast as I could.

As I entered the hallways of this place, I noticed that all of the torches around the walls had been lit up.

That means Aoi has already been here.

Even if I had considered the possibility of the door opening on its own, any lingering hope that Aoi hadn't entered through it was now gone.

The only thing I could do right now was hope with all of my might that she is still alive until I arrive where she is right now.

And thankfully, after sprinting for a couple of minutes at top speed, I noticed Aoi, who had fallen on her butt while trying to push herself away from Slime monsters.

However, right as I noticed her, one slime that was closest to her jumped towards her with the aim of rendering her unconscious. 

I was still far away from Aoi, so I knew I had to act really fast. I wasn't going to allow myself to let those dumb slimes harm her. Which is why I quickly aimed my glock and shattered the core of the monster, which also destroyed its whole slimy body.

There were a lot of slimes left. That's why I didn't waste any time but continued shooting all of them without letting them get any closer to Aoi.

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

I only had three mags with me, and thankfully, they were barely enough to kill all of the remaining slimes.

After making sure that there weren't any more slimes nearby, I rushed towards the fallen pink-haired girl and crouched down in order to see if she had any fatal wounds.

"Aoi," I called out to her, "Are you okay? Are you hurt somewhere?" 

"...."

She did not respond to me. Her expression had frozen into a slightly shocked one as her teary eyes were looking at me.

I knew that having me save her was something she didn't want. However, I hope that she doesn't think badly of me for coming in here and saving her.

"Aoi, please respond to me!" I tried grabbing her attention once again without trying to get any closer.

From what I could see, she didn't seem to have any injuries other than some scratches. But the fact that she was frozen like that worried me to death.

"Aoi!"

"...."

Then, after a few more moments of me trying to grab her attention, her eyes blinked once for the first time before looking directly into my eyes.

"Ah..." she let out a slight gasp.

"Haaa... You're back." I let out a relieved sigh after confirming that she snapped back.

She seemed to have fallen into shock after getting attacked by slimes. That's why I was worried she wasn't going to respond to me anymore.

"What…. is this place?" she asked, her hoarse voice clearly visible.

"I will explain everything to you, but firstly, we should head back inside before any more slimes come here." I suggested as the confused girl kept looking at me in confusion and exhaustion.

"Slimes…." She repeated to herself very softly as she looked on her side, unsure of this situation.

"I only have a few more bullets left in my mag, so I think it would be wise for us to leave this place," I tried explaining this to the dumbfounded girl, "And I'm pretty sure that a group of more slimes are headed this way right now."

Unless the strongest slime is not killed, then more slimes will continue to spawn in this place infinitely with no rest. 

"....right…." she murmured softly to herself.

Then, after understanding that staying in here any longer would surely cost her life, Aoi attempted to get up in order to leave this place. But as she shifted her weight onto her right leg, she collapsed once more.

"KYa!"

It seemed like she had sprained her ankle while trying to run away from slimes.

But right now, I don't think we have that much time left before the slimes respawn. So without a moment to spare, I crouched down, positioning my back protectively in front of the girl, who couldn't seem to apply any strength to her right foot.

"I know that I promised that I wouldn't touch you anymore," I said to her, "but this is the only way for us to safely get out of this place quickly before the rest of the slimes reach us."

Aoi looked at my back for a couple of seconds, unsure of her decision, before looking back down at her strained ankle.

Even if she hated this, right now both me and she had no choice but to cooperate with one another until we left.

"....."